Nintendo’s president cites a strong launch lineup of games as a main reason behind the spring 2017 release date for the NX.
Last week, Nintendo quietly confirmed that the NX console will be released in early 2017, contrary to the many rumors that had the Wii U successor pegged for this holiday season. In a financial Q&A with investors, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima dished out some further details about the business strategies surrounding the hotly anticipated NX and its upcoming release, such as not selling the console at a loss and the necessity for a strong launch lineup of software titles.
With regards to the eventual price of the NX, Kimishima affirms that Nintendo are “not thinking of launching the hardware at a loss.” He goes on to explain that “selling at a loss at launch would not support the business, so we are keeping that mind in developing NX.” So does this mean that the NX will cost somewhere in the ballpark of the PS4 and Xbox One on their respective launch dates? Or could it mean the NX hardware will just have less expensive (and thereby less powerful) parts?
Kimishima also puts an emphasis on a strong new lineup of games, both at launch and later on down the road to support the new console with many years of longevity. This directly ties into why the NX will be skipping the standard holiday release window in favor of a March 2017 launch, a move which seemed to baffle many in the industry: “One of the reasons for choosing the launch timing that we did is so that the software lineup will be ready in time for the hardware launch.”
With the new Legend of Zelda game also delayed to 2017 and confirmed to be in development for NX as well as Wii U, it might be safe to assume that it will lead the charge of launch titles next spring. We can also probably expect a new Mariogame in there somewhere as well, and for you wishful thinkers out there, I’m still holding onto hope for a new Metroid Prime at some point. But perhaps the real question right now is: what new games will carry the struggling Wii U through the rest of 2016 and up until the NX launch?
What would you like to see as launch titles for the NX next year? Let us know in the comments, and keep checking back on Den of Geek for all the latest updates on the Nintendo NX as we learn them.
Joe Jasko is a staff writer.
